Wednesday, March 01, 2017
You are invited to worship with the imposition of ashes and holy communion.
1pm Downtown Campus
5pm Highlands Campus
7pm Highlands Campus
You are invited to worship at Bethel to observe the beginning of Lent. Ash Wednesday is the Wednesday of the seventh week before Easter and the first day of Lent. The day is named for the practice of imposing ashes, a practice that many Lutheran congregations have found to be a very meaningful part of the Ash Wednesday liturgy.
Using ashes as a sign of repentance is an ancient practice, often mentioned in the Bible (e.g., Jonah 3:5-9; Job 42:6; Jeremiah 6:26; Matthew 11:21). The early Christians adopted the use of ashes from Jewish practice as an external mark of penitence. Ashes suggest cleansing and renewal. They were used anciently in the absence of soap. Even on Ash Wednesday, this most penitential day, we receive ashes in the form of the cross, the same symbol placed on our bodies with water in our baptism. Even in this ashen mark of death, we anticipate the new life of Easter.
Ashes are a symbol of our need to repent, confess our sins, and return to God.
Plan to be marked with the cross on Ash Wednesday, March 1 at Bethel.